Incumbent All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick is a key player in the Chiefs' quest to finish top of the New Zealand franchise and get an all-important home semifinal.
But he admits to giving the upcoming tests against France the odd cursory thought.
It is only natural after all, as the biggest prize of all for any young Kiwi rugby boy growing up is to one day wear the black jersey.
Retallick has played 13 tests and the 21-year-old would love to be involved in the three-test series against France in June and the Rugby Championship in August once the Super Rugby campaign ends.
At 2.4 metres, he is the tallest player in the 38-man All Blacks training squad named yesterday for two camps at Mount Maunganui over the next fortnight.
Although he would love to lock the Bay of Plenty scrum again with his cousin Culum Retallick, he knows if that happens it will mean he has missed out on All Blacks selection.
"I'd love to get a few games under the belt for the Steamers but at the same time I am kind of hoping I am not going to be there because I am in the All Blacks picture," Retallick said.
"So, for me, I am just trying to play well and whatever happens will happen.
"My form is getting to where I want it to be and I am reasonably happy with the way it's going. It was a bit tough at the start of this year because I missed out on pre-season, and it probably caught me out fitness-wise a wee bit more than it had last year, but now I really want to put in some big performances in these last few rounds of the Super Rugby."
The Chiefs have continued their winning run in the competition without being overly convincing. They were lucky to beat the average Western Force team 22-21 in their last outing in Pukekohe on Friday night, after another good start.
Retallick says concentrating for the whole game is what they have been working on this week.
"Yes, that was probably a bit too close for what we would like and not the way we would want to win, but it is still good to be winning and where we are, just one point off the top of the table.
"At times we are playing well and doing some stuff really well, especially on attack and D, but other times it is slipping away, especially when we had those big leads for a couple of games. We just slackened off a bit and thought it was going to be easier than it ended up being. It just showed that any team can put us under the pump if we are not doing it for the whole 80 (minutes).
"We want to put in a complete effort and come off the field with a performance we can be proud about."
The Chiefs have another big challenge on Friday night when they take on the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Retallick says if they play the way they did against the Force, they will probably be put away by the Canes.
"It is going to be a big battle but we just need to focus on what we do well. We need to get a good platform up front so the backs can play off us. We have some injuries, especially in the midfield, where we are a bit light, but we can't worry about that too much. We have to focus on who is here and how we are going to play with those players."